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Charles de Guise, Duc d'Aumale
Charles de Guise (born 25 January, 1555), was the Duc d'Aumale. The second son (and fourth child of 11) Claude de Guise, Charles was not expected to inherit Aumale initially. After the death of his elder brother, Henri, in 1559, he was set as the heir to the Duchy of Aumale, which he inherited upon the death of his father in 1573. Early Life and Family Charles was born in late January, 1555. His parents, Claude and Louise the Duc and Duchesse d'Aumale, were overjoyed to have a second son after a period of two daughters and his eldest son's generally poor health. He spent most of his early childhood with his ever-growing family of siblings and cousins. He rarely saw his parents before he was breeched at age 7, and was instead raised by his governess, as was standard for the time. At the age of 7, he was breeched and sent to his tutors. His older brother's death when Charles was 4 essentially meant that he was the next in line, meaning his tutors were notoriously more stern in tutelage. Charles was quick to learn reading, writing, theology, Latin, Italian, Spanish, and fairly basic estate management from his tutors. That being said, he didn't much appreciate the sternness of their teaching methods. They were given essentially free reign to do almost whatever they pleased to instill discipline. These lessons worked, in spite of Charles's distaste for the harsh methods. The future Duc would go on to the Collège d'Harcourt in Paris at age 13. While there, Charles would learn rhetoric, basic law, grammar, and logic. His father's death in 1573 was sorely mourned. Charles respected his father, and felt unprepared to really take on the vast estate he now had to manage. His father fortunately left a decent heft of instructions and his mother, who would live another 4 years, would come to help him for a short time as the Dowager Duchesse d'Aumale. Marriage and Children In 1576, Charles married his cousin, Marie de Guise from the Elbeuf branch of the family. The match was one of self-preservation on the part of House Guise. This marriage would keep family ties relatively close, and keep land and inheritances within the family preserved. There seemed to be a good relations between the two as well, as both seemed to have the same goals of expanding the house in mind throughout their marriage. The couple would have their first son, Charles, on 17 December, 1580. Aumale was, suffice to say, overjoyed to have an heir so soon. This glee and joy, however, would soon turn to immense sorrow. Not more than 3 years after he was born, the would be Charles II of Aumale died of pneumonia in the cold winter of early 1584. The Duc resolved to wear a black ribbon to court long after the standard period of mourning. A second son, name Henri after Aumale's cousin the Duc de Guise, was born on 1 June of 1585. The couple was once again overjoyed, and this joy would fortunately not end in sorrow. Upon the coming of his first birthday, the Seigneurie de Richemont was bestowed upon him. Between 1587 and 1601, 3 more children, all daughters were born, and only one would die in her infancy. Transition from "Politique" to "Leaguer" Unlike the rest of his family, Aumale spent the very early stages of the conflict in a vague neutrality. He didn't appear to rail against either side really, and more than anything wanted peace. Aumale was not considered to be radically catholic, nor was he considered to be against the League, he was merely looking for peace. He would spend most of his life maintaining that all he wants is peace, but his means slowly began to shift as time wore on. Aumale's shift in perspective is likely due to the inaction of the crown. The lack of real stability left Aumale to watch as the conflict continued, claiming more lives and, frankly, being generally bad for business. Aumale then resolved, in all honesty, to side with the league in more conflicts, if only because the government didn't seem to want stability and peace to return, and he could never bring himself to outright betray his family. Personality and Appearance The Duc d'Aumale could be described as a man of little ambition but of good wits. Pragmatic and generally benign, he wasn't often spoken of in ill will. However, he was known to get involved in court gossip when he could. He seemed to live for it, though he tried his best to be a link in a chain, rather than be the source barrel. Because of this, it would appear to most that conversations with him would often be mildly entertaining to mundane if he had nothing much to say. Though, one could get quite a few words from him if one started a discussion on fashion. In short, he was a man of many virtues with a very good work ethic and sharp mind, but was not much of a chatterbox. Charles was a devout man, though slightly more subdued than many of his relatives. His personal religious belief was that in an ideal world, everyone would follow Rome to the end of days, but reality is not an ideal world. Aumale tended to favor peace and the preservation of the state over religious fortitude, and so long as the sovereign was providing such peace, he would do little if anything to stand in the way. This is why he was, among others, dubbed a "politique" in the earlier years of the conflict. That, however, should not suggest that he himself was perfectly tolerant. He disliked the Huguenots, and thus avoided most conversation with them. He was more likely to side with the League as more Huguenots took up arms, and was frequent to help the league in their expeditions. His idea in this was that so long as protestants take up arms against the state, there cannot be peace. By 1601, he began aiding the League full-on in private while still having the public guise of being relatively neutral. In terms of appearance, he was dashing and youthful into his late 40s. His face was decently portioned, eyes seemed to be deep blue wells to Eden's waters, and he had a well kept beard and moustache. Fairly tall but mildly on the heavier side, he had good stances. Aumale was determined to never leave a private space looking haggard, and would obsess over how he looked, how he dressed, how he can make any imperfection disappear, for hours in the morning, and would plan his clothing daily to set his wardrobe nearly to the hour to make sure that at the very least, he was seldom if ever out of place among his peers, though he was capable of looking quite fashionable when given the opportunity. Issue Aumale's wife, Marie, was fortunate with decent fertility into her 40s. That being said, the couple was known to suffer. A total of 4 miscarriages occurred between 1577 and 1598, and two of the 5 children who would survive birth died young. The Duc's children are as follows: * Charles (17 December 1580 - 3 February 1584) Chevalier de Valentinois, died of pneumonia * Henri (1 June 1585 - ) Seigneur de Richemont * Marguerite (8 March 1589 - 23 December 1592) Mademoiselle d'Aumale, died of puerperal fever * Anne (19 January 1600 - ) Mademoiselle d'Aumale * Marie (14 January 1601 - ) Mademoiselle de Dieppe Ancestry Titles and Styles Aumale's primary title for the majority of his life was, as should be obvious, Duc d'Aumale. That being said, the Duc was also the Comte de Valentinois in name after the death of his elder brother and later in right after the death of his Grandmother, Diane de Poitiers, in 1566. As the only man in his immediate family who could inherit property, he also would inherit the Comte de Saint-Vallier and Seigneurie d'Anet from the death of his other brothers, Henri and Antoine. Upon the death of his father, he also inherited the Seigneuries de Rhuys et Suscinio. As of 1601, he was also the Seigneur de Dieppe, Seigneur de Provins, Seigneur de Boos, and Seigneur de Ham. * 25 January 1555 - 30 August 1559 : Son Altesse, Monsieur le Chevalier d'Aumale * 30 August 1559 - 3 March 1573 : Son Altesse, Monsieur le Comte de Valentinois * 3 March 1573 - Present : Son Altesse, Monsieur le Duc d'Aumale Being a member of the House Guise, a cadet branch of House Lorraine, Aumale was considered a Prince étranger, as well as a Peer of Grandelumiere.__FORCETOC__